Distance
by Taskemus
Summary: [SiriusxCrookshanks] Sirius meets Crookshanks to talk. Set during the Prisoner of Azkaban.


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Author's Notes: This is a Sirius/Crookshanks fic. Yes, I kid you not. Crookshanks the cat. ..Don't ask. It was 1 AM when I wrote this and I have no idea what I was smoking. I also know nothing about cats, so don't mind me when I pretend that I do. I don't really like this much, but it's slightly okay after some editing, and I had to post it because there needs to be some Sirius/Crookshanks out there. XD There should be more chapters in this if I ever get around to writing them and if people don't hate this too much.

More Author's Notes: The last sentence keeps getting cut off. If you see the last line of the story in italics, you're not getting the whole thing, so tell me, ok?

Warnings: Light shonen ai (boyxboy), if you can even call it that. If you want to, just call it platonic friendship or something, but that's not the way I meant it to be when I wrote it (yes, I know I have a sick mind). And this doesn't make any sense whatsoever, although I don't really know if that goes under warnings.

Sirius doesn't remember when he met Crookshanks. It was sometime after he left Azkaban, of course, but to him it seems that Crookshanks has always been there.

Tonight they meet in front of the Whomping Willow. The cat stretches gracefully in the moonlight, meowing, and pads over next to Sirius, yellow eyes glinting. Sirius doesn't ask how he knew that he would be here tonight, because then he'd have to ask himself how he knew the same thing. There's some sixth sense about cats, Sirius has always thought.

Crookshanks' hair is combed and he draws his fur closely to his body, giving him an air of importance. With a flick of his bottlebrush tail and an even stare, he coaxes Sirius out of the shadows.

Cats can't talk to dogs, of course, but the body language is all he needs. Crookshanks looks back impatiently, taking a testy step ahead as if to say _follow me_.

Sirius follows. He knows where they are going now.

The cat and the dog are silent as they walk along. Crookshanks is purring slightly deep in his throat, but the sound is drowned out by the hum of the bugs and the occasional howls of creatures from the woods.

Sirius walks unconsciously, the route burned into his paws by hundreds of moonlit nights at Hogwarts. When they reach their destination, the Shrieking Shack, Sirius turns to Crookshanks, looking him straight in the eye and taking a step forward.

_Tell me what's going on._

Crookshanks averts his gaze and begins to wash his left paw with his tongue. Sirius smiles, a smile that by now must be rotten and crooked by default, stepping into the corner and changing back into his human form. It's safe here.

he says aloud, not feeling at all foolish about talking to a cat, You don't have him.

Crookshanks is looking down still, now toying with a dust ball on the floor. At the rat's name he looks over at Sirius, hissing, the fur on his back seeming to rise and grow. And then, he seems to speak. It's not the first time this has happened, so Sirius doesn't doubts the words that form in the back of his mind. If Azkaban has made him crazy, so be it! He's still going to listen to Crookshanks.

_The man who is a rat is clever. His sheets are stained with blood but he lives._

Sirius growls at this information, narrowing his eyes. I hope he's still at Hogwarts. I'll hunt him down and kill him myself if he isn't. Not that I'm not doing that already, he adds as an afterthought, grinning.

If he didn't know any better, Sirius would say that Crookshanks had just laughed. He jumps into Sirius' lap and curls up.

You want to help, do you? You've already done enough, Sirius protests. I can handle it from here.

At hearing this, Crookshanks snaps his jaw with a loud crack and gets to his feet, padding silently over to the door.

This time it's Sirius who laughs, also standing up. He walks over to the ginger cat and pats his head affectionately.

Fine, fine. I was joking anyway. You can help, they'll trust you.

At this the chubby cat's purr deepens and he rubs his orange fur against Sirius' legs as he walks past.

More body language. Sirius knows what this means.

_I like you._

Crookshanks is marking him. It's a sign of friendship.

But he sees something else in the cat's eyes as he purrs and rubs against his legs again.

He's not pushing too hard, not purring to loud.

Sirius pets him again, but by this time Crookshanks is already leaving, going back through the tunnel with an annoyed yelp as Sirius finds himself petting his messy tail. Crookshanks is keeping his distance.

With these subtle changes, Sirius thinks, the message is changed.

_I love you._

And for some reason, Sirius is crying.


End file.
